A Change in the Tale
by Fluffy Green Thing
Summary: What if things were a little bit different? Lily is a single mom, with Sirius living in and helping her raise Harry. HxHr
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I really enjoy these 'What If?' stories. I have started another like this but it got boring for me. I might continue it when I have ideas but for not it's on hiatus.**

Chapter 1

It was a normal day in nineteen eighty-one. One family in Godric's Hollow was celebrating Halloween, which was one of their favorite holidays. The family who lived there were Potters, James, Lily and little Harry, their son.

That family seemed a normal family with loving parents and a child. However, they had a secret, which they did not tell people who didn't already know. They were one of the wizard families and had the ability to use magic. They were also in hiding since the most evil wizard was looking for them to kill their son since he presumed that he was a threat.

But despite that, they was enjoying their evening, not worrying about what might happen. It was, after all, Halloween and they wanted to be happy.

Suddenly, James Potter heard the front door being opened and someone was walking in. He was not stupid, though he acted like he was at times. He knew that only his enemies would break in. He realized who just entered the house.

"Lily, grab Harry and run away! I will hold him off!" James told his wife frantically to get to safety. As Lily with their child escaped the room, James saw him. That creature was looking very pale. His face did not have nose but slits and his eyes were red. The top of his head was covered with a black hood but James recognized who this person was. Lord Voldemort (**A/N:The 't' is silent !**) had just arrived at the house.

"Step aside, blood-traitor. I don't want to hurt a pureblood,"

"I would rather die than step aside!" retorted James angrily.

The Dark Lord pointed his wand at the unarmed man in front of him and said the 2 words of the killing curse; "Avada Kedavra" upon which, James crumpled to the ground, dead. Voldemort, satisfied, started walked upstairs to the nursery, where he knew the woman and child were hiding. She was shielding him in his cot.

"Step aside, mudblood, and I spare you." He growled out in a whisper.

"No!" she yelled out. "Don't hurt my Harry! Kill me instead!"

"I will give you one chance to give me the baby and become a whore for one of my Death Eaters instead." When she refused to budge, he silently threw her into a wall and knocked her unconscious.

He then turned to the child and spoke his two favorite words; "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

~CIT~

When Lily woke up, she saw the room around her in ruins, and the Dark Lord was nowhere to be seen. She looked into he cot and saw her son, crying, with a lightning scar on his forehead.

"Harry!" Lily cried. The child looked up at her and stopped crying when she took him in her arms. She didn't know how long she sat with him like that, just cradling him in her arms.

When she looked down on to the street, through the destroyed window, she saw a couple people approaching. The nearest one had wispy white hair and a white beard down to his waist. Though it was hard to tell where his waist was, due to the purple cloak he had on.

She took a sleeping Harry downstairs to meet with them. "Albus, Voldemort killed James!" She cried, tears freely falling from her eyes.

"How is it possible, Lily? I personally placed Fidelius Charms on the house!" He exclaimed.

"It means the Secret Keeper betrayed us!" She then saw the other man.

"Sirius, I am going to squeeze the life out of the rat when I see him! He is blamed with a murder and 2 attempted case of murder!"

The man name Sirius walked over to the redhead and hugged her.

"I know Lils, I promise I will be there right along side you. I am so sorry to suggest the idea. I never meant for this to happen." He sobbed on her shoulder while she comforted him.

"I know you didn't Padfoot. It isn't your fault. It's partly ours for trusting that no good, son of a bans-"

"Lillian Potter! Don't use that kind of language in front of our esteemed Headmaster and your son!" jokingly chided Sirius. Lily cracked a smile and Harry, who was awake now, giggled.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following." Said Albus. "Do you wish to tell me that Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper?"

"No, Sir." Replied Lily. "Sirius thought that due to his closeness to James, I would be targeted. I figured no one would guess that Wormtail was the actual Secret Keeper."

"Bloody stupid idea, more like." Murmured Sirius.

"I see." Said Dumbledore. "We have to find Peter and hand him over to the Ministry."

"You should probably tell them that he's an unregistered Animagus, in the form of a gray rat." Lily added. "But I am baffled. How on Earth did my baby boy survive the Killing Curse? I assume that's what MoldyShorts cast on him. I don't know what leaves a lightning blot as a scar." Sirius laughed at her nickname for the Dark Lord.

Albus nodded. "Before you go after him, I let me explain what I think may have happened. James gave his life to protect his son. He enabled an old blood magic. This means Harry has to go with blood relatives of James'."

"He isn't going to be taken away from me, is he?" asked Lily, sounding more horrified by the second. "If he is taken from me, I will actually have nothing to live for. My only family is Harry."

"Calm yourself, Lily. It is quite fortunate that purebloods marry other, however distant relatives to be 'pure' because that makes James and Sirius distant relatives. You will have to live with him to raise Harry safely. He will be protected against anyone evil or with evil intentions while he is in Sirius' house or with Sirius."

Both young adults seemed to think it over before Lily broke the silence.

"So how 'bout it, Padfoot? You think you can live with me and Harry?"

"Of course, Lil! I wouldn't mind taking you guys in. I just hoped that if I did, it would be on more pleasant circumstances."

"So, now that that's settled, shall we get Peter? I will stay behind with Harry. I am sure you can take care of the situation yourselves."

The two wizards nodded a goodbye to Albus and gave a quick kiss to Harry, who had fallen asleep again, and apparated from the house in search of the traitor. They figured that he would be in places where the Death Eaters wouldn't bother to look and they saw Peter on a street full of Muggles.

As they were nearing him, he noticed that they didn't look too happy, blew up the street, cut off his finger and transformed before they could get a word in. Liy noticed he was about to run into the sewer pipes and stunned him. She conjured an unbreakable jar with a few air holes on the lid and summoned Wormtail into it. After the Obliviators came by to fix the scene, Minister Fudge and his Aurors arrived at the scene of the crime. He noticed that Sirius had his wand out and assumed that he was guilty.

"Sirius Black, you are arrested for the murder of James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and many Muggles."

"What? Hold on a sec-" He protested as the Aurors were coming nearer, wands drawn

"Minister, he did not kill them and Peter is not dead." Lily cut him off. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. "He is stunned in his animagus form" The Minister of Magic looked confused but then he saw the rat in the jar held by Lily Potter. She fired a revealing spell at him and as the rat grew in to a person, the jar expanded too, to give him a bit of room. Pettigrew was still knocked out from the stunner and couldn't protest to his situation.

"You have a hearing at Wizengamot tomorrow. I will send you an owl with the time." He said before leaving. "Both of you. Don't be late."

Lily and Sirius shared a small triumphant smile before aparating back to Godric's Hollow where Dumbledore was rocking a sleeping Harry.

~CIT~

The next day, there was a courtroom filled with the members of the Wizengamot, writers for the wizarding newspapers and other observers. They looked at the two men, who sat in the chairs and surprisingly for them; only one was chained, as the chair did not find Sirius guilty.

"Hello members of Wizengamot, My name is Albus Dumbledore and let the trial begin. We will start with Sirius Black. Could someone bring Veritaserum?"

The liquid was brought in and Sirius Black quickly drank it.

"Now, I will ask you a number of questions. Were you a Secret Keeper for Potters?"

"No."

"Do you know who was?"

"Yes, I do. It was Peter Pettigrew"

"Everyone assumed previously that it was you. Why did you give that false information?"

"I knew that it was common knowledge that James and I were very close and that I would be the most likely candidate for that position so no one would suspect Peter."

"Now, did you kill those Muggles?"

"No, Peter did in an attempt to escape."

After Sirius left, it was Peter's turn. He was squirming in his seat trying to wring free of the chains. Dumbledore told him that they have prevented him from transforming before giving him the liquid and started asking him questions.

"Were you a Secret Keeper of Potters?"

"Yes," he squeaked out.

"Why did you betray your friends?"

"Because the Dark Lord promised me a lot of things for that." He struggled with the answer.

"And did you kill those Muggles?"

"Yes, I did."

The Wizengamot members discussed the issue between them and made up the verdict.

"Sirius Black, you are found innocent. You are free to go. Peter Pettigrew, you are found guilty and you are given a life sentence in Azkaban." Upon hearing that Pettigrew tried to transform into a rat but could not. Apparently, he had forgotten about the charms placed on the chair that prevented him from changing.

~CIT~

**A/N: Thanks for reading. I don't truly know what'll happen later but stay tuned. The pairings may change according to my mood…**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A few years later, Lily and Harry were comfortably living with Sirius. The apartment that Sirius lived in before was too small for the three of them so they found a lovely house in a well-off neighborhood. Sirius had been left all his family money and he said if they didn't spend it, it would rot in his vault at Gringotts because 'he had too much of it anyway'.

Lily made several Muggle friends around the neighborhood, especially their next-door neighbors, the Grangers. Jean, her husband David and their daughter, Hermione, were great friends. They got together often, seeing as the only thing separating the kids from playing each other was a fence.

One day, Lily was thinking about her future. Her sister had married a whale of a man and had disconnected all ties with her. Her parents had died several years ago, so she really had no one.

_Sirius is a really nice guy,_ she thought while absentmindedly playing with Harry. _He helped me a lot last year, what with all the funeral arrangements for James, and taking care of me and Harry. We practically act like we're married anyway. Harry already treats him like a dad. He really has been a great male role model for Harry, when he isn't pretending to be Harry's age._ She chuckled to herself._ He could be a really good dad…_

Later that day when Sirius got home from his work in the Ministry, Lily called him over to talk.

"Hey buddy!" he smiled at Harry, who gave him a toothy grin and a giggle when his messy hair was ruffled. Harry turned his attention back to the cartoon he was watching on the television.

The adults went into the kitchen to have a conversation. Lily was pacing the floor while Sirius just sat down in a chair and was looking at her to find out what she wanted to talk about.

"What's up, Lils?"

"Um… I don't know how to… No, I mean, I think we… Erm, how should I say this?"

Sirius smiled at her

Seven years passed. Harry Potter was living with his grand parents, his mother Lily Potter and his Uncle Sirius. Occasionally, another good friend of his father showed up, who was Remus Lupin. He quickly became friends with little wizard.

One day Harry was reading one of his favorite books, History of Magic. He learned that he was a wizard when he was seven by performing some accidental magic. From that moment he started reading a number of books. His mother also took care that he learned Potions, as it was a rather difficult subject to master. Nevertheless, Harry was making a lot of progress by studying with his mum.

That day, while in the process of reading about yet another Goblin War, Harry was called in the kitchen. He put a book on the table and went to the room. In it he saw his mum standing there with the dinner table getting prepared.

"Hello honey, I wanted to tell you today that one family is moving in to our neighborhood. We invited them to a dinner today. They have a daughter about your age. I wanted you to show her the neighborhood and remember you need to be polite young man."

Harry waited for the new family to arrive. He was curious about the girl and he was thinking if she would be nice or not. At about five in the evening, someone knocked on the door and Harry went to open the door. There stood two adults with a shy bushy haired girl about his age.

"Hello and welcome to Evans house. My name is Harry Potter" Harry tried to be as polite as he could since he knew that if he would not, Lily would not teach him Potions and he liked that subject so much.

"Hello, my name is Dan Granger and this is my wife Emma and daughter Hermione"

"Hello Harry" said the girl. Harry could feel that the girl felt a little insecure about herself. Harry showed where Dinner room was to the adults and was left alone with Hermione.

"So Hermione, could you tell me what you like to do?" Harry tried to start conversation.

"You want to talk to me?" blushed the girl "Nobody of my age ever wanted to talk to me since I am known as a know-it-all bookworm."

"Don't worry Hermione. To tell the truth you are the first person my age I have talked to since my mom does not let me out of the house for some apparent reason. And if that will make you feel easier I like to study too"

The two continued talking and Harry then showed his room to Hermione. His magical books were hidden before the guests arrived so that they would not accidentally see them. Hermione saw many books and got excited. She saw some book on an upper shelf and tried to grab it but she could not due to her size. But after her last attempt to get the book, she tried to reach it for the last time and something odd happened- the bookshelf fell on the floor and Hermione saw that the book she wanted was in her hand. The noise attracted adults and two mothers entered the room.

"What happened? Why are all the books on the floor? I thought I taught you better Hermione"

"It was an accident Mrs. Granger. She did not mean to do it"

"Yes but how did that happen?"

"I think I know what happened. Hermione just performed some accidental magic because she tried to get the book, which she could not"

"Magic? It does not exist" Emma Granger protested

"It does. In fact, this little accident tell me that your daughter is a witch"

"Stop insulting my child"

"That is not an insult, Emma, I am a witch too and Harry is a wizard. At a certain age wizards and witches receive a letter from a Hogwarts, where they learn how to use magic" With that Lily took out her wand and lifted the bookshelf with all the books, which were on the floor and put them back into their place. The two Granger women were amazed.

"Don't worry, she will learn how to perform magic. I also thought about teaching some basics in magic to Hermione since she is a muggleborn and new to our world."

"What is a muggleborn?"

"Well, a muggleborn is a wizard or a witch who has parents as Muggles or people who cannot perform magic. I am a Muggleborn myself. There are some people out there who think that muggleborns are inferior to pureblood and half blood wizards but I am sure that Harry will protect his friends from such people"

"Alright, so what does my little daughter need for studying?"

"For now, she can read his books about magic and study Potions but later after she receives a letter from school, she will have a list of necessary things." The two mothers returned to the dinner room and Harry and Hermione went to read some of his magic books.

A/N next chapter Harry will meet the Weasleys! I am currently thinking how third year should go since I cannot follow the 3rd book because Sirius is innocent.


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